Texas Southern loses opener 77-57 at No. 12 Baylor

In a turnover-plagued and foul-filled season opener, the Tigers lost 77-57 on Friday night.

"We went on a spell. We turned it over. We shot it quick. We just didn't play," Texas State coach Tony B. Harvey said. "We had guys that had foul trouble, had rotations, had different lineup changes, guys forced to play who weren't ready to play."

The Tigers were in foul trouble early, with 6-foot-11 Timothy Price — their tallest player — picking up three fouls less than 2 minutes into the game. Baylor was already in the bonus less than 3 minutes in and in the double bonus with 14 minutes left in the first half. Price didn't have a shot or a rebound, fouling out while playing only 3 minutes.

While Quincy Miller had an impressive debut for Baylor with 17 points, the Bears also turned 18 Texas Southern turnovers in 27 points.

"We gave up too many points off turnovers. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds (15) and we were just really soft out there in that zone," Harvey said. "We were really soft. It was just a tough night for us."

Miller scored 12 points after halftime, including two 3-pointers when the Bears put the game away with 11 points in less than a minute.

"My teammates were looking for me to score, just looking for me every time," Miller said. "We were just feeling it. That's all I can say."

Returning senior starters Quincy Acy and Anthony Jones had 11 points each for Baylor while Cory Jefferson, who redshirted last season after playing as a freshman, had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jones led the Bears with 12 rebounds.

Miller is a 6-9 freshman power forward from Chicago whose senior season at Westchester Country Day in North Carolina was cut short by an ACL injury.

"We expect so much because we know he has that in him. ... It's tough enough adjusting from high school to college, but even harder when you're basically rehabbing your senior season," coach Scott Drew said. "It will take him a little time. He's going to get better as the year goes on. ... He has a knack for hitting big shots, and isn't scared to take big shots."

Miller started the 11-0 spurt for Baylor with a 3-pointer at the 9:05 mark. Pierre Jackson had a layup before Miller hit another 3 then Jefferson had a layup while being fouled and made the free throw, making it 65-42 with 8:13 left.

The Bears played without sophomore standout Perry Jones, the Big 12 preseason player of the year.

Jones, a 6-11 forward, started the season with five games left in an NCAA suspension for accepting improper benefits before he got to Baylor. He had to sit out Baylor's Big 12 tournament game last March. He had long been expected to become Baylor's first one-and-done player, but the potential NBA lottery draft pick instead decided to stay in school.

Jones sat near the end of the Baylor bench in jeans and a collared shirt. He will be eligible to play Nov. 29 against Prairie View.

Omar Strong led Texas Southern with 14 points. He was only 4 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 13 on 3-pointers. Fred Sturdivant had 11 points.

The Bears led only 37-30 at halftime before taking over.

Baylor is 40-0 against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, with 21 of those wins coming during Drew's nine seasons.

The Bears, who missed the postseason last season with an 18-13 record, are getting games in a hurry. They play Sunday at home against Jackson State, another SWAC school, before a Tuesday afternoon game against San Diego State that is part of an ESPN marathon.

Jackson, a top junior college player last season, had six points in a 16-6 run that put Baylor up 37-26 with 2:11 left in the first half.

That came after Texas Southern was within 21-20 on a 3-pointer by Madarious Gibbs.

"We were minus a couple of weapons, a little banged up. We needed some guys to step up big and try to do some things," Harvey said. "But we'll take it and go back to the drawing board. ... The outcome and the score didn't look that way for us, but there were some positives."